Insulated rail joints are critical for train safety as they control electrical signalling systems; unfortunately they exhibit excessive ratchetting of the railhead near the endpost insulators. This paper reports a three-dimensional global model of these joints under wheel-rail contact pressure loading and a sub-model examining the ratchetting failures of the railhead. The sub-model employs a non-linear isotropic-kinematic elastic-plastic material model and predicts stress/strain levels in the localised railhead zone adjacent to the endpost which is placed in the air gap between the two rail ends at the insulated rail joint. The equivalent plastic strain plot is utilised to capture the progressive railhead damage adequately. Associated field and laboratory testing results of damage to the railhead material suggest that the simulation results are reasonable. A global model and a sub-model of an IRJ are presented; a wheel-rail contact scenario was analysed with the value of P0/k0 being set above the shakedown limit. Some of the results of the FE model were validated using field and laboratory experiments. Based on the observations, the following conclusions are made: (1) A sub-modelling strategy provides appropriate estimates of stresses and strains under multi-axial loading conditions as in the wheel-rail contact scenario. (2) A wheel load above the shakedown limit leads to progressive damage of railhead material. (3) The ratchetting rate follows a logical decay pattern. (4) The von-Mises and longitudinal residual stresses are good indicators for metal flow across the rail joint. (5) The depth of plastic zone extends up to 10 mm below the top surface of the railhead.


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    Titel :

    Sub-modelling for the ratchetting failure of insulated rail joints


    Beteiligte:


    Erscheinungsdatum :

    2013


    Format / Umfang :

    13 Seiten, 38 Bilder, 2 Tabellen, 34 Quellen




    Medientyp :

    Aufsatz (Zeitschrift)


    Format :

    Print


    Sprache :

    Englisch